Lonyatta Alexander Jr. commits

[PHAT CAT]

Welcome to Montana State, Lonyatta. I'm damn glad you're here. I hope you have a great year in Bozeman, the class room and on the field. Go Cats!

[wbtfg]

Welcome to Montana State, Lonyatta. I'm damn glad you're here. I hope you have a great year in Bozeman, the class room and on the field. Go Cats!

Dilly dilly.

[profisme]

The devil will be in the details (attitude, willingess to block etc.), but I love this pickup. This guy was a top 300 prep recruit. I have not been around the program that long, but how many of those have we had here?

We have two proven guys in Thomas and Dowler (who should take a big jump in year 2) along with McCulloch, who was a proven and productive receiver at the Mountain West level. Now we are adding a guy who, even if he was overrated in HS, figures to have plenty of talent to succeed at this level. And if we get any production out of our other young guys, we have a very strong receiver room. Add to that two excellent TEs and Mellott will have no shortage of targets to throw to next year.

Travis Jonsen was a top 50 recruit in the nation coming out of high school according to Rivals. He was listed as their #3 dual-threat QB after his senior year of high school. I thought maybe Garrett Marino might be another who was ranked in the top 300 in the nation, but I am not finding anything to confirm that. Of course, Travis worked out for MSU a bit better than Marino did.

[Travelingcat]

The devil will be in the details (attitude, willingess to block etc.), but I love this pickup. This guy was a top 300 prep recruit. I have not been around the program that long, but how many of those have we had here?

We have two proven guys in Thomas and Dowler (who should take a big jump in year 2) along with McCulloch, who was a proven and productive receiver at the Mountain West level. Now we are adding a guy who, even if he was overrated in HS, figures to have plenty of talent to succeed at this level. And if we get any production out of our other young guys, we have a very strong receiver room. Add to that two excellent TEs and Mellott will have no shortage of targets to throw to next year.

Travis Jonsen was a top 50 recruit in the nation coming out of high school according to Rivals. He was listed as their #3 dual-threat QB after his senior year of high school. I thought maybe Garrett Marino might be another who was ranked in the top 300 in the nation, but I am not finding anything to confirm that. Of course, Travis worked out for MSU a bit better than Marino did.

Looking at his ESPN numbers, Marino wasn't quite top 300 but fairly comparable. And despite being a total head-case, he was able to briefly make an NFL practice squad, play in the CFL and is now in the USFL. Jonsen's performance here speaks for itself. So when you get a guy with potentially that type talent level, and you don't even need him to step in and be one of your top three options next year, I think that's a very good sign.

Looking at a baseline, with the exception of one freak signing by Deion at Jackson State, not a single one of the WR recruits ranked in the top 600 players nationally in Alexander's class even signed outside the Power 5, much less the FBS. And you have to go well past 1000+ before you'll find any FCS signees. So at least at first glance, this guy is going to have a different level of ability than the vast majority of our signees.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

I like it.

I personally think having two receivers at 6' and above lined up on the outside is a huge advantage and forces teams into even coverages. It's not going to work very well to throw it up along the sideline to force teams out of single coverage. A shorter receiver needs to get 2-3+ steps on the DB before throwing over the DB becomes anything more than a prayer. Alexander certainly has the talent to be that second guy.

I don't think the sky is falling for Taco Dowler either. I don't think that we can just assume Alexander comes in ahead of Dowler, given that Dowler has proven he can play at the college level and Alexander still needs to prove it. But even if we assume that McCullough, Thomas, and Alexander are the expected starters, that doesn't mean Taco won't get the ball. He came into camp as a backup last year and got the ball a lot. This year he comes in already considered one of the team's top 3 or 4 receivers, and I would guess that at least that many receivers will see the field regularly, if not more.

[ECBobcat]

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky ... 1d153.html

Sounds like a mature guy.

Add another to the list of guys who have chosen MSU over UM.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Bold prediction:

MSU is gonna sling it around a lot more than prior years (low bar, I realize).

This might be the most talented WR crew we’ve had in a hot minute. Two P5 transfers. A G5 starter transfer. And the Montana Gatorade POY who has proven to be dynamic on the field, plus some really solid TE’s. Lot of talent there.

[ND0479]

Bold prediction:

MSU is gonna sling it around a lot more than prior years (low bar, I realize).

This might be the most talented WR crew we’ve had in a hot minute. Two P5 transfers. A G5 starter transfer. And the Montana Gatorade POY who has proven to be dynamic on the field, plus some really solid TE’s. Lot of talent there.

So you think us not passing as much in previous years was due to lack of talent at the WR position?

[BelligerentBobcat]

Bold prediction:

MSU is gonna sling it around a lot more than prior years (low bar, I realize).

This might be the most talented WR crew we’ve had in a hot minute. Two P5 transfers. A G5 starter transfer. And the Montana Gatorade POY who has proven to be dynamic on the field, plus some really solid TE’s. Lot of talent there.

So you think us not passing as much in previous years was due to lack of talent at the WR position?

If I remember correctly, we passed a fair amount when McKay was here at the beginning. As he regressed, so did the passing game.

I personally don’t think the WR’s last year were anything special. They did okay, but nobody was especially dynamic, or consistent. Tommy is also really needing development as a passer, so that plays into it as well. Chambers, at the moment, is a much better passer.

Regardless, there’s a lot more WR talent right now than last year. Tommy is growing as a passer. Leads me to think they’ll pass more.

[AFCAT]

Bold prediction:

MSU is gonna sling it around a lot more than prior years (low bar, I realize).

This might be the most talented WR crew we’ve had in a hot minute. Two P5 transfers. A G5 starter transfer. And the Montana Gatorade POY who has proven to be dynamic on the field, plus some really solid TE’s. Lot of talent there.

Yup, more talented than the three guys we had on the roster a few years ago that made NFL active and practice squad rosters.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Bold prediction:

MSU is gonna sling it around a lot more than prior years (low bar, I realize).

This might be the most talented WR crew we’ve had in a hot minute. Two P5 transfers. A G5 starter transfer. And the Montana Gatorade POY who has proven to be dynamic on the field, plus some really solid TE’s. Lot of talent there.

Yup, more talented than the three guys we had on the roster a few years ago that made NFL active and practice squad rosters.

Jonsen as an athlete was awesome. Jonsen as just a WR wasn’t much. Kassis was obviously great. Lance was still very raw when those guys were here. So yeah, I stand by what I said. As WR’s, it’s looking like it could be the best group we’ve had at the same time.

[ND0479]

Bold prediction:

MSU is gonna sling it around a lot more than prior years (low bar, I realize).

This might be the most talented WR crew we’ve had in a hot minute. Two P5 transfers. A G5 starter transfer. And the Montana Gatorade POY who has proven to be dynamic on the field, plus some really solid TE’s. Lot of talent there.

So you think us not passing as much in previous years was due to lack of talent at the WR position?

If I remember correctly, we passed a fair amount when McKay was here at the beginning. As he regressed, so did the passing game.

I personally don’t think the WR’s last year were anything special. They did okay, but nobody was especially dynamic, or consistent. Tommy is also really needing development as a passer, so that plays into it as well. Chambers, at the moment, is a much better passer.

Regardless, there’s a lot more WR talent right now than last year. Tommy is growing as a passer. Leads me to think they’ll pass more.

I don’t disagree that the room is better, I just don’t think the lack of passing was because the WR’s weren’t good enough. Tommy doesn’t see the middle of the field well enough yet and I think as long as Tommy and Sean are at QB, they’ll be prone to pulling the ball and running with it on every read play. That’s not a bad thing because both of them are electric at this level and have no problem outrunning most FCS defenses.

[Helcat72]

There has been a strong culture built and an expectation for sustained high-level results. Coaches have tremendous pressure on them to continue meeting these expectations year after year after year. Does anyone here really expect much less than a trip to the quarters or semis every year now? That’s the standard the coaches have now. Their careers and family’s livelihood depend on it. The reality of college football is that you have to mix transfer and high school recruits to keep pace. Not every strong high school recruit develops in college. And that’s not on the coaches the majority of the time in a good program. Some kids continue to grow and mature for 5 years and some dominate, but peak, in high school. Some of it is physical, some of it is not. College athletics is a different world and the demands are 10-fold over high school. And you simply can’t predict with certainty how any high school will react at this level. That’s why there’s a hundred kids on the roster and a fair amount of attrition. I agree that program built via the transfer portal isn’t the best or sustainable. You need a strong high school recruiting base and absolutely need to supplement with transfers.

How would 2022 have ended up without Ravi Alston and Clevan Thomas? Were there two other guys ready to compete at their level?

Well f you take transferring out of it, it would've been Jaden Smith & likely Charles Brown. I don't think it would've been that much of a difference and I'm a big fan of Ravi and CT.

And there is my point. That’s why transfers coming in is necessary. My response was to the notion of the poster that says to just develop your high school recruits and not bring in a good transfer.

Yeah, I love the idea of developing your HS recruits and don't really love the idea of transfers, but I know they're necessary. I think it makes it too easy for the coaches to give up on a kid and bring in a 24 year old hired gun for a season.

Either way, the coaches have proven they bring in quality guys from the portal so as much as I don't like it, I'll trust them and award them with my fandom.

I remember Kramer saying that HS WR recruits were always one step from transferring up if they were any good. They always felt MSU was a stepping stone to the big time and they failed to settle in and learn their craft. That's why he preferred JC or drop down WR'S. If you can entice the good hs wr's to come here and work for a year or so...they could be productive. But they all seem to figure they knew it all coming out of hs.

[MSUBRONCO]

As a cat and dawg love this

[MSU01]

As a cat and dawg love this

You also have to love it based on prior history of UW to MSU transfers. Joey Thomas, Bryce Sterk, and Raequan Battle have been rather nice additions to their respective teams!

[Bobcat4Ever]

As a cat and dawg love this

You also have to love it based on prior history of UW to MSU transfers. Joey Thomas, Bryce Sterk, and Raequan Battle have been rather nice additions to their respective teams!

That’s kind of filtered history. You need to include the two that arrived in a sports car and left in a cop car.

[MSU01]

As a cat and dawg love this

You also have to love it based on prior history of UW to MSU transfers. Joey Thomas, Bryce Sterk, and Raequan Battle have been rather nice additions to their respective teams!

That’s kind of filtered history. You need to include the two that arrived in a sports car and left in a cop car.

Thanks for the reminder on those two guys!

[blueandgoldblitz]

As a cat and dawg love this

You also have to love it based on prior history of UW to MSU transfers. Joey Thomas, Bryce Sterk, and Raequan Battle have been rather nice additions to their respective teams!

Plus Amandre Williams, Jason Scrempos, (and since we're including basketball) Grace Beasley. 6 is greater than 2 and I'm sure there's more I'm missing on the positive side.

[Bobcat4Ever]

I remember a discussion on here, maybe five or six years ago, how so many transfers had not been working out — just the reverse of now. If someone remembers or is lucky at Search it should still be around. The bad outweighed the good quite a lot.

Women’s basketball had two or three flameouts (one DUI), football had some duds (bar fights, etc.), seems like men’s BB did also (same bar fight). As our coaches were upgraded or found their feet, their success with transfers has improved considerably. Maybe the vast amount of information and film available has helped?

[AFCAT]

I remember a discussion on here, maybe five or six years ago, how so many transfers had not been working out — just the reverse of now. If someone remembers or is lucky at Search it should still be around. The bad outweighed the good quite a lot.

Women’s basketball had two or three flameouts (one DUI), football had some duds (bar fights, etc.), seems like men’s BB did also (same bar fight). As our coaches were upgraded or found their feet, their success with transfers has improved considerably. Maybe the vast amount of information and film available has helped?

I haven’t done a deep dive into the subject but it seems FBS transfers have been pretty good lately, but JUCO transfers can be a bit of a hit and miss sometimes.